Hip Hop has become the biggest musical genre in the world. In an interview with Rolling Stone, will.i.am presented a not-so-flattering reason for Hip Hop's rise.
Hip Hop Hip-hop is the dominant form of popular music on the planet. How long will that dominance last?
What’s the number-one sport on the planet? Soccer, because anyone can play it. The problem with hip-hop is everybody could do it. It doesn’t take much fucking skill right now to make hip-hop. It’s become the lowest-hanging fruit. It’s no longer about Rakim-level, Nas-level, not the deep, metaphorical simile shit. Out of respect for the Nases of the world, let’s not call it hip-hop. Let’s say that’s rap. But instrumental music is going to be the next biggest shit.
The Black Eyes Peas frontman then defended his prediction that soon our most popular music might not even have words, mumbled or otherwise, in it.
The John Coltranes, the Stan Getzes, the Jimi Hendrixes, the musicianship. That’s the only way to prove intelligence or taste: demonstrating your artistry. Right now we’re competing human on human, and eventually we’ll be competing human on machine – the moment there’s a fucking AI mumble rapper [laughs] . . . it’s inevitable, bro! Like, the reason why Star Wars is Star Wars is because the Jedis kept the machines in check.
Do you think rap's so popular because it's easy to make?